The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A RELIGIOUS leader said yesterday that he too believes the age of consent should be 18.

Bahamas Christian Council President Bishop Delton Fernander was asked for a comment on the matter after Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper said the age of consent should be raised from 16 to 18.

Social Services Minister Obie Wilchcombe on Friday said the Office of the Attorney General is looking at “inconsistencies” in law with the age of consent with legislation expected to change in the summer.

On the sidelines of an event yesterday, the bishop gave his personal views on the matter.

“Our meeting is at the end of the month to get consensus,” Bishop Fernander said. “I really can’t speak on behalf of the council. But for myself, if consent and adulthood and the ability to do certain things in our country is 18 I would think something as serious as sex would be 18 also. So as a pastor, as a father of a daughter and a son, I would say 18 is an appropriate age to give consent.”

 Public discussions about the age of consent have occurred after a 40-year-old man was given a four-year sentence in a plea deal for unlawful sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old girl whom he impregnated. After the man completes his prison term, he will be on probation for three years. The sentence prompted an outcry from some people that it was too lenient.

 Controversy erupted after the remarks of Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Franklyn WIlliams and National Security Minister Wayne Munroe regarding the case, which some saw as victim blaming. Mr Munroe suggested the sentence was too severe, telling reporters that had he defended the man, he would have argued it was not rape and that the girl consented.

“I really don’t look to those people to give me my position on things,” Bishop Fernander said. “I really think as a father if my daughter has been assaulted, raped, and impregnated I expect the court to take its due course. The time and sentencing I need more information to know how did it get to four years because it really really seems to be a short time for such an horrendous thing. But as a parent and as a father, I am one of those who believe we should never blame the victim, we should protect the victim and really prosecute the perpetrator.”

 There have been calls for tougher penalties on the books. Ann Marie Davis, wife of Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, said she thinks the maximum sentence should be given to those who violate children. The BCC president, on the other hand, asserted he is not a proponent of knee-jerk reactions.

“I like the data. I like to study it. I like the professionals to give me advice. It’s good to say these things and we get good PR points, but if we keep (becoming) stricter, stricter without changing the dynamics of what causes this, we will always have the problem although we have great penalties and as a pastor I want to deal with the cause and then also I want to penalise those who break the law. So I need more information before I just jump on the bandwagon.”

 Fingers have been pointed to the church on what they have done to deal with these issues, but the bishop thinks the criticism of the church is “always based on those who don’t know what the church is doing in society”.

 “….Church leaders are on the front line and we are the persons taking these matters to the police and having intervention because we can go into homes and social workers who need help getting in. Police officers who need our help getting in.”

 Then there are those who criticise the church’s silence on matters of this nature.

 To those critics, Mr Fernander said: “I would say be very careful with that because you’re just jumping on a bandwagon.”

 “We have the privilege as the council to go right to the powers that be and while you are speaking to the press we are actually speaking and collaborating. You saw us at the Office of the Prime Minister when I was away. . .So I’d be very careful because what we do sometimes does not end up on the front of the page, but we are always working for God’s sake.”